NCAA Division I Men's Semifinals

FOXBOROUGH, Mass. – The ritual couldn't
be seen on TV with the camera focused on the offensive end. But
during many of Loyola's possessions, the Greyhounds' 6-foot-3,
215-pound goaltender Jack Runkel spent the idle time pacing,
jogging and sometimes side-shuffling across the diameter of his
crease.

"I'm trying to keep my heart rate up. It's a tip coach Toomey
gave me back in the beginning of the year," Runkel said. "Pace
back-and-forth, do little sprints."

Keep the heart rate up and stay cool otherwise. That's the motto
for Runkel, the sophomore who showed up Saturday with the biggest
game of his career in Loyola's 7-5 win over Notre Dame in the NCAA
Division I men's lacrosse semifinal before 31,774 fans at Gillette
Stadium.

Runkel made a career-high 15 saves; a few early to settle in and
a couple key late to maintain the Greyhounds' lead. Among the
biggest: He stopped Notre Dame's Westy Hopkins on an inside roll on
the crease with 57 seconds left and the Fighting Irish trying to
make it a one-goal game.

"On [Notre Dame's] goal before that, he did the same thing and
beat me near-pipe. So on that one I just stood my ground and tried
to make him beat me off-side," Runkel said in the hallway outside
the Loyola locker room after the game. "I knew I had a slide coming
from across crease and I think he hit him as he shot it. I stood my
ground and got a piece of it with my stick up high."

The Loyola defense in front of Runkel did a good job of forcing
Notre Dame's shooters into taking lower-percentage shots at times
– "I think we settled for average attempts on the offensive
end," Notre Dame coach Kevin Corrigan said – but Loyola coach
Charley Toomey also said after the game: "I knew we had a goalie
that was ready to play today. He was big. He's as big as he's ever
been in there for us. When there was a break down, Runkel was right
there to pick up the pieces."

Runkel said, through scouting Notre Dame's quarterfinal win over
Virginia, he expected high shots from the Irish's array of
midfielders. He made his first save on just such a shot.

"We gave Jack some looks from the outside and he was just saving
everything," said Loyola long-stick midfielder Scott Ratliff. "That
was a big part of it."

While across the field was Notre Dame All-American goalie John
Kemp (13 saves), Runkel was probably the least known goaltender
ahead of Saturday's semifinals. He wasn't the starter at the
beginning of the season and only played in one game as a
freshman.

Through fall ball and even into March, Runkel was in a goalie
competition with junior Michael Bonitatibus to see who would
ultimately replace graduated senior Jake Hagelin.

Runkel did not see the field in the Greyhounds' season-opener
against Delaware and played six minutes in the next game against
Towson. Against Bellarmine on March 3, he was called on at halftime
with the Greyhounds trailing, 4-2. Loyola won 11-8 and Runkel made
three saves in the second half.

He made his first career start four days later against Michigan
and made five saves while allowing eight goals. After that, in the
preparation leading into a key game against Duke March 10, he said
the coaches told him he had "one more shot" to prove himself.

"I had 13 saves in that game," he said. "I kind of settled in a
little bit."

"In practice, I just learned about consistency, being the same
guy through the whole week," Runkel said. "Don't get down on myself
if I allowed a bad goal or get to excited if I make a whole bunch
of saves, just being the same guy the entire time."

Another recommendation from Toomey, the former two-time
All-American goalie at Loyola: No palms up, meaning don't blame the
defense.

"If I let up a bad one, say that's me, that's me," Runkel
said.

There weren't many of those Saturday.

After the final horn blew, Runkel held his right arm and stick
above his head in triumph. The heart rate was surely pumping, for a
different reason than his crease pacing, as his teammates ran
across the field to mob him in celebration.